The pastor of a South Carolina megachurch had to come out and apologize for his wife on Thursday after she posted an angry Facebook message targeting black NFL players who take a knee against social injustice.

Fox Carolina reported that Rev. Ron Carpenter, Jr. of Greenville’s Redemption Church, posted the apology video on Facebook after his wife Hope Carpenter criticized pro athletes who kneel in protest during the national anthem.

If you know me at all …. you know who I am, what I stand for and my fight for equality for all of us as humans! Right??? So do not dog me out for my video/pic I just posted about the silent protest! It’s wrong! Stop thinking about it from your history or race! The NATIONAL ANTHEM IS OUR NATION’s SONG! Yes, there are things in our country that’s wrong, but our country is not to blame! You don’t like it? Move or be a part of the healing of our nation! This only separates and divides more yall!!!!! Rise up church! Where you at??? U hanging out with the complainers??? The mad???? Where u at???

Jesus is our only answer and He promotes faith, love, peace, HONOR and unity and submission! Do things the right way and get a right outcome! Want to protest? Do it differently .. but not not honoring our national anthem! God’s been good to us and these people still are representing a STATE on their jersey! This will not fix racism! Duh!!! Only Jesus!

If you wanna kneel … then u better be praying to the one and only who can heal our land! Do go back n forth on here and make me block u. This is my page. State your opinion on yours.

President Trump’s critical comments about those players who kneel during the National Anthem prior to sports events has caused a national firestorm this week. Trump said anyone who participates in the protests should be fired.

After removing the post, Hope Carpenter issued an apology in which she stated:

I absolutely love our church people! We are all very different with very different upbringings but we all love Jesus and want to be respected and appreciated! I do not ever want to hurt people. I want to help … I’m sorry if I hurt anyone. Let’s all be careful what we post and say. Thanks for telling me when I hurt you. Never want to do that. I love my family.

Ron Carpenter said the ongoing backlash surrounding her post has left Hope too “emotional” to respond, so he recorded a video instead to include both of their apologies. That post, too became controversial as some of the congregation, which is 60% Black, thought she was right. Last Sunday, Hope addressed the congregation personally.

” I was careless and said things that hurt people and I was ignorant of the whole scope of it all. The very people I love, the very people I fight for I hurt and I beg you to forgive me. That post was very controversial, the wording was very sensitive to issues that if you could believe it or not I was truly ignorant about because I don’t live there. I don’t, I don’t, I don’t live there.”

“I’ve never been treated unfairly and the people that have, even my great friends who we do vacations with and do life with, we honestly just don’t focus on that. We don’t go there. We just love each other. We love each other through each other’s differences. We don’t argue about it. We don’t hate each other for it and so I was ignorant to how deep and how painful, because I see this every week,” she said while gesturing to the racially diverse congregation.

She continued:

“Maybe I was, I don’t know, maybe I was duped to think that you know, maybe we had made a difference you know, maybe we had come so far out and that’s where I live. But I promise you, I’m going to educate myself. And I’m gonna see what the other people out there, not in here, necessarily feel.

“And many of you in here may still feel that but I promise you I’m gonna get educated. Cause I don’t want to be ignorant, and I don’t want to talk stupid. I don’t want to hurt the people I love. And going from here, I just ask for your grace and mercy. That I’m not perfect and I make mistakes too and I made one. It’s been a very painful learning experience but aren’t most of them? Most of our learning experiences are painful.”

The Carpenters both grew up in military families, Ron said, and “view the flag as sacred.” And that in spite of her post, Hope has “one of the best hearts” of anyone he’s ever known.

“It’s been tough, the things that have been said about us… but maybe we deserved it,” Carpenter said. “Maybe this is a learning moment for us. So I’m not going to tell you to be quiet. I’m going to tell you to teach me.”

“We ask you to forgive us if we’ve hurt you in any way,” he continued. “I ask you to teach me what I don’t know… I don’t want to be ignorant.”